502 DII. The Waiting Room

"Can we go? Kranus asked, eager to meet the men who had been maneuvering enemy troops against his forces since then.

"Yes, let's go" Dag replied, who began to walk to the door, followed by the rest of the team.

When the guards noticed that the travelers were without horses, without even checking whether they had weapons or not, they let them into the huge castle.

A large hall opened in front of them, the interior of which was bare and unfurnished.

Many people stood in front of a stairway and when they heard the door open behind them, they simultaneously turned in that direction, noting that unknown faces had just entered.

"Hello!" Dag exclaimed, trying to be polite.

Almost no one answered, except for two women with their children and an old man, sitting alone in an old chair.

"I think this is kind of a waiting room" Dag said in a low voice, speaking to his comrades privately.

"Waiting room?" Kranus asked, not understanding what he was referring to and never hearing that word.

"Yes... a place where people wait their turn to meet someone neatly and without acceding. We will do the same..." Dag explained, noting that that palace, as well as the symbol of the power of the Claws Of Fenrir Clan, was also a place where people could carry out their demands on the city's highest offices.

After his own words, Dag began to reflect on that characteristic, which made the society at the head of that city, one of the most advanced he had ever seen on Skjold, almost comparable to the kind of laws that were in Jernhest: the guards defending every important place were common in the main cities, but a real ordinary citizen, where someone would listen to the requests of every single person of any social rank, was a rare thing to see.

"This detail shows that the Claws Of Fenrir used to live in a real civilized city, with their own laws for the wellness of its inhabitants. This place does not suit their lifestyle, which despite appearances, is based on values other than fighting and brazing their prey. I think convincing them to join us to get Klorr back won't be difficult" Dag thought, continuing to look at the faces of people waiting under the stairs.

"What are you thinking, Dag? I know that silent look of yours... there's something you're not saying" Freydis asked, approaching him and speaking in a low voice, trying not to rise above the volume of the few words that came from the people in the waiting room.

"Well, that means you have more in common than we thought... we hope that their 'Packmasters' are people with whom you can argue peacefully. We wait our turn, I don't think it will take long" she replied, approaching Dag and gently grabbing his hand from under the fur coat, to make him feel her presence.

Dag smiled at her and together, they sat in the corner of the room, on a large wooden bench, ready to wait their turn.

While Kranus and his warriors discussed the more and less, imagining the conversation with the leaders of the enemy Clan and recommending that each other will need not to lose their composure, Dag spent the time waiting to look at the details of the castle's front room.

The high vaults were made of the same stone bricks of which the walls were formed, which from the outside seemed even higher.

A heavy bronze candelabrum or some similar stuff was hung in the center of the ceiling, whose arms were almost entirely covered with candle wax, which had a more decorative, than practical function.

As usual, the environment was illuminated by the same torches that were in the stairway tunnel, perhaps built by the same carpenter.

The yellow light bouncing off the raw surfaces of the bare rock made the atmosphere particularly bleak, as inside a cave, simulating its environments and spaces, to which wolf warriors were accustomed.

When Dag's eyes squared all the details of the room, which were not many, his gaze fell on the people who, like them, were waiting for an audience with the Packmasters.

Two middle-aged women were talking cheerfully to each other in a low voice, so as not to disturb everyone present.

As they chatted, they looked after their children, who were five in total, and ran all over the room, cheering up the heavy, warm air. 

Both of them were dressed almost exclusively in rags and their hands were dirty and full of calluses, making Dag guess that they were definitely working women who had gone to the castle to ask for some kind of favor or facilitation that would help them in their work.

Next to them, not far away, the old man who had greeted them when they entered the room was sitting in the same old chair and with his hands in front of his face, entertaining two of the five children making grimaces.

To the left of the bench on which he and Freydis were sitting, there was an identical one and above it, a little boy was sitting and looking towards the floor.